Written by Sally Ho
On the eve of his inauguration, President Donald Trump said an executive order suspending the nationwide ban on TikTok would be one of his first official actions. Avid users of social media platforms and apps waited until Monday night to find out whether he would comply and, if so, what would be written in the order.
Trump has amassed about 15 million followers on TikTok since joining last year, and credits the trend-setting platform with helping him rally support among young voters. However, TikTok’s 170 million users were unable to access TikTok for more than 12 hours from Saturday night until Sunday morning.
The platform went offline before a ban approved by Congress and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court went into effect on Sunday. TikTok has restored access to existing users after President Trump promised to suspend the ban on Monday. However, Google and Apple have not yet reinstated TikTok to their app stores.
Business leaders, lawmakers, legal scholars and influencers who make money from TikTok are watching closely to see how President Trump intends to resolve a litany of regulatory, legal, financial and geopolitical issues with his signature.
How did the TikTok ban happen?
TikTok’s app, which allows users to create and watch short-form videos, breaks new ground by working with an algorithm that provides recommendations based on viewers’ viewing habits. But concerns about the possibility that China could serve as a tool for the Chinese government to manipulate and spy on Americans existed even before Trump took office.
In 2020, President Trump issued an executive order banning transactions with TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance and the owners of Chinese messaging app WeChat. A court ultimately blocked the order, but less than a year later, citing national security concerns, Congress overwhelmingly passed a law banning TikTok unless ByteDance sells it to an approved buyer. It was passed by a majority.
The law, which took effect Sunday, would impose fines of up to $5,000 per U.S. TikTok user for major mobile app stores like Apple and Google and internet hosting services like Oracle if they continue to distribute TikTok to U.S. users. It is permitted to impose penalties. ByteDance’s sell-off deadline has passed.
President Trump said Sunday that he has asked TikTok’s U.S. service providers to continue supporting the platform and app as he prepares to sign an executive order ending the ban for the time being.
“This order also confirms that companies that helped prevent TikTok’s blackout prior to my order are not liable,” Trump posted on his social networking site Truth Social.
The law, passed by Congress and signed by former President Joe Biden in April, allowed for a 90-day extension if progress was made toward a sale before it took effect. Sarah Kreps, director of the Technology Policy Institute at Cornell University, said there is less certainty that the provision would be applicable retroactively.
“An executive order cannot override existing law,” Kreps said. “It is not clear whether the new president has the authority to extend the law already in effect for 90 days.”
How will TikTok sales change?
Kreps also wonders whether conditions exist for a delay at this point, when no potential buyer has even been named to prove the sale is proceeding.
But Alan Rosenstein, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, wrote that the law also gives the president the power to decide what constitutes a “qualified sale,” meaning that ByteDance was a foreign to a U.S. citizen. This suggests that President Trump may have discretion to decide whether or when to meet the conditions that protect the United States. Adversary control application method.
ByteDance has reiterated for months that it is not interested in a sale, but the Chinese government on Monday also signaled that China may soften its stance on TikTok to allow its Chinese parent to sell it. The Chinese vice president met with Vice President J.D. Vance and Tesla technology giant Elon Musk on Sunday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday that business operations and acquisitions “should be decided independently by enterprises in accordance with market principles.”
“Chinese laws and regulations should be observed when Chinese companies are involved,” Mao said.
Until now, it was widely believed that the Chinese government would not allow the sale of TikTok, which has become the embodiment of China’s defiance against “American robbery.” However, TikTok was one of several issues raised during Friday’s phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Trump, although details were not disclosed.
President Trump then announced plans to delay the ban on TikTok and proposed a joint venture in which the United States would acquire 50% ownership of the app. TikTok CEO Xiang Zhi Chu attended President Trump’s inauguration and sat with some of the biggest names in the US tech world.
Who or what can enforce the ban?
The Justice Department is normally tasked with enforcing federal laws, so it’s possible that President Trump could direct the department to ignore the law. Such a move could itself be subject to legal scrutiny, but it would buy TikTok time.
Mr. Trump’s efforts to save TikTok could put him at odds with some House members and senators who voted in favor of the bill, which had broad bipartisan support. House Speaker Mike Johnson called ByteDance’s ownership “very risky” and said he expected a complete sale would occur.
“I think we will enforce the law,” Johnson said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Krebs said lawmakers are now in a position that “looks a little foolish” if the ban doesn’t last.
“(The case) becomes about separation of powers and checks and balances, not having a king deciding what the law is,” Kreps said. “Enforcement is not left solely to the executive branch.”
What are other potential legal obstacles?
In a message posted to X, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas listed numerous state and federal agencies and private organizations willing to go to court to enforce the ban.
“Companies that host, distribute, service, or otherwise promote the communist-controlled TikTok are facing hundreds of billions of dollars in ruinous damages under the Justice Department as well as securities laws, shareholder lawsuits, state legislatures, and other laws.” “They could be held accountable,” Cotton said.
Despite the intense scrutiny and potential costs, the intrigue surrounding TikTok is in some ways business as usual for the tech companies involved, said Gus Hurwitz, a legal scholar at the International Center for Law and Economics. .
“The fines we’re talking about are civil fines, and businesses are always at risk of civil fines,” Hurwitz said.
Still, shareholder lawsuits could focus on difficult business calculations: comply with stalled laws or risk defying the president, who has awarded favorable federal contracts to these companies. There is.
Oracle, for example, is part of a $9 billion Department of Defense contract to build a cloud computing network.
“This may actually be a good business decision,” Hurwitz said. “It’s not necessarily a breach of duty to shareholders.”
Which companies are deciding whether to trust President Trump’s assurances?
We’re learning a lot about how companies like Oracle and Akamai Technologies power TikTok’s servers to keep them online, and how companies like Apple and Google are preventing new users from downloading the app. Questions have been raised.
None of the companies responded to requests for comment.
In 2020, Oracle announced it had acquired a 12.5% stake in TikTok Global after securing the business as the app’s cloud technology provider.
Meanwhile, as of Monday night, a search for TikTok in Apple’s app store would lead to the following online statement: “Apple is obligated to comply with the laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates,” while Google’s app store notes TikTok downloads. Suspended due to current US legal requirements. ”
Ho reported from Seattle. Maya Sweedler and Didi Tan in Washington contributed reporting.
First Published: January 20, 2025 at 7:35pm EST
